-Over 304,000 Pakistanis brought home on 500 flights
By Minahil Makhdoom
ISLAMABAD: A grand operation has been completed for repatriation of Pakistanis stranded abroad due to travel restrictions and lockdown because of the coronavirus outbreak. More than 304,000 Pakistanis were repatriated from more than 500 domestic and international flights under a special flight operation from 64 countries of the world. At least 300,000 Pakistanis were repatriated through special flight operations while 4,329 Pakistanis returned home via land routes. The operation launched for the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded abroad in view of lockdown and travel restrictions due to global pandemic was completed, under which more than 344,000 Pakistanis were repatriated by domestic and international flights and land routes. According to a document received by The Daily Mail, from the Crisis Management Unit, a total of more than 500 flights of domestic and foreign airlines were operated. Under which 300,000 Pakistanis returned home by air and 4,329 Pakistanis by land. According to the documents, 2,000 members of the Tablighi Jamaat, 1,326 pilgrims and 1,745 Pakistanis imprisoned in foreign jails returned through special flights. According to CMU documents, 154,000 Pakistanis were repatriated from United Arab Emirates, 63,595 from Saudi Arabia, 17,000 from Qatar, 11,729 from Oman, 4,469 from Bahrain and 6,339 Pakistanis were repatriated from Turkey under the operation launched to repatriate Pakistani citizens. According to the document, 7,122 Pakistanis were repatriated from Britain, 1,702 from the United States and 2,520 from China, while 2,314 Pakistanis were repatriated from Kuwait and 8,110 from Kyrgyzstan. The document further said that 4,098 Pakistanis have returned home from Afghanistan and 1,080 from Iran under a special operation during the lockdown. Similarly, 418 Pakistanis from India, 2987 from Afghanistan and 924 from Iran were repatriated to the country via land route.
According to the report of Crisis Management Unit, 556 Pakistanis were repatriated from Thailand, 128 from Uzbekistan, 125 from Tajikistan and 1,682 from Iraq. Similarly, 1,933 Pakistanis were brought back to the country from Canada, 50 from Japan and 457 from Indonesia.
